Unrest In Baluchistan

Two years after Bangladesh achieved independence from the Pakistani rule in 1971, the Baluchs of Baluchistanrose in revolt against the Punjabi-dominated federal Government demanding an independent Baluch state. Amongst the leaders of the independence movement were Khair Bux Marri, Sherroo alias Tiger Marri and Ataullah Khan Mengal.

The revolt was triggered off by discrimination against the Baluchs in matters such as educationalfacilities, recruitment to the Armed Forces and other Government departments, economic development etc. There has been no worthwhile economic development in the area despite its being rich in oil, gas and othernatural resources.

Another subsequent cause for anger is the large-scale influx of Pashtuns from the North-West FrontierProvince (NWFP) of Pakistan and Afghanistan, officially encouraged by the Army, and re-settlement of Punjabiex-servicemen  in order to reduce the Baluchs to a minority in their homeland.

The regime of Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto, then in power in Islamabad, crushed the revolt ruthlessly, using theArmy and the Air Force.  Khair Bux Marri, Tiger Marri  and their  followers took shelter inAfghanistan, while Ataullah Khan Mengal went into political exile in the UK.  After the collapse of theNajibullah Government in Kabul in 1992, Khair Bux Marri, Tiger Marri  and their  followers returnedto Pakistan. Tiger Marri died in 1993.  Ataullah Khan Mengal too returned to Baluchistan, butsubsequently went back to the UK.

The Baluch nationalist movement became dormant for some years.  However, since the beginning  oflast year, there are signs of a revival of the movement due to heightened anger amongst the Baluchs againstthe Pakistani Army and the federal Government. While the feelings of alienation, which triggered off therevolt of the 1970s, remain as strong as they were 30 years ago, certain additional reasons have aggravatedthem.

The more important amongst them are the non-payment of adequate royalty to the people of Baluchistan forthe gas found in their territory, which has contributed to the economic development of Punjab, without anyeconomic benefits for the Baluchs; the displacement of a large number of poor Baluchs by the construction ofthe Gwadar port and town with Chinese assistance without adequate compensation; the re-settlement of a largenumber of Punjabi and Pashtun ex-servicemen in Baluchistan to work in the Gwadar port  and Mekran coastalhighway projects, in violation of the Government assurances that preference would be given to the sons of thesoil for work in the projects; violation of the labour rights of the people employed by the Chineseconstruction company which is building the port; and the setting-up of three new cantonments by the army in Baluchistan.

The anger over the non-payment of adequate royalty for the gas being supplied to Punjab and Sindh has ledto a number of incidents of sabotage of the gas pipelines and  attacks involving the use of explosivesand landmines directed against the staff employed for the protection of the pipelines.  As a result,there have been frequent incidents of disruption of gas supply. Despite the allocation of an additional sum ofRs.600 million by the federal Government for raising a new security force to guard the pipelines, acts ofsabotage and other violent  incidents continue to occur.  In the latest incident reported from aplace near Sui on September 27,2003, at least 13 persons were injured, three of them critically, when a vanran over a landmine.

The construction of the Gwadar Port and the Mekran coastal highway has been expedited by the Army  inorder to complete the projects one year ahead of schedule.   These projects have resulted in thedisplacement of  thousands of Baluchs from their ancestral land and the forcible acquisition of theirland by the Government without paying them adequate compensation and without giving them suitable land inreturn.  Moreover, fearing Indian attempts to sabotage the projects, the Government has forcibly removed the  Hindus and many of the Baluchs, whose loyalty was suspected, from the area, which has been declareda sensitive defence zone.

While the Hindus have been forced to migrate to Sindh, the Baluchs, who are suspected of being sympatheticto India, have been removed far away from the site of the port.  A large number of Punjabi and Pashtunex-servicemen, whose loyalty to Islamabad is beyond doubt, have been re-settled in the Mekran coastal area towork in these projects.

There is also growing anger against the Chinese company, which has been given the contract for theconstruction of the port, with many complaints of payment of less than the legal minimum wage to the Baluchworkers employed by it, non-payment of wages for months at a time and ill-treatment of workers.

An article in the June 21, 2003, issue of the Dawn, the prestigious daily of Karachi, said: 

"On the potholed road from the Gwadar airport to the city, scattered wall graffiti hailsPakistan-China friendship.  Much of this officially-sanctioned bonhomie is reserved for the HarbourEngineering Company (HEC), one of China's largest state-owned firms entrusted with the task of developing theGwadar deep-sea port.  Even for an outsider, the company's larger than life presence is overwhelming.

"For the desperately poor people of the area, however, the air-conditioned enclaves of our Chinesefriends have become symbols of mass alienation.  It is their unethical business practices that evoke muchmore bitter discontent though. On the rare occasions that local services are hired, salary payments can oftentake several months.  The alleged high-handedness of the HEC staff often leads to strikes and protests byemployees.

"For Gwadar's ills, one cannot find fault with the Chinese alone.  They are only pursuing theirstrategic national interests. Nothing really wrong with that.  And in disregarding the local population'sneeds and sentiments, Pakistani authorities fare no better.  In the agreement signed with the Chinese,the Government is believed to have ignored even the legitimate share of jobs that are reserved for locals.

"The highway authority building the Gwadar-Karachi coastal highway has recruited hundreds from outsidethe area. The residents allege that the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) does not even consider theirapplications for jobs.  Since most construction and development work is outsourced, contractors fromKarachi, Lahore and other parts of the country often hire their own people.  No doubt, technical skillsare locally in short supply.  But not much of the manual work involved requires complex techniques.

"Allegations that the military authorities have bought most of the prime land at throw-away prices arerife.  According to local officials, over 80 per cent of the plots in the Gwadar Singhar Housing Schemehave been arbitrarily allotted to outsiders, many of them senior army and civilian officials.

"Gwadar's woes do not stop there. The much-touted devolution of powers remains a farce in the face ofcentralised control over the area's resources.  The Gwadar Port Authority (GPA), for instance, is run bya retired Admiral based in Karachi. The city's Master Plan, prepared by the National Engineering Service ofPakistan (NESPAK), is another no-go area for the local authorities.  Even provincial authorities werevirtually bypassed in its formulation.

"The controversial plan betrays NESPAK's complete disregard for local sensitivities or socio-economicconditions. For one, locals fear that the under-estimation of the present and future population may lead totheir conversion into a minority in the future.  The plan envisages the relocation of a large chunk ofthe old city's population, but without any concrete, stated resettlement plan, lending credence to publicfears of mass dislocation.

"The secrecy surrounding what should be a public document has made matters even worse.  Thedistrict assembly has rejected the plan after several requests that it be taken into confidence fell on deafears.  Even the provincial Assembly's motions have failed to elicit a response from the concernedauthorities.

"It is hardly surprising that deep nationalist resentment fuelled by what is largely perceived as theCentre's attempts to appropriate provincial resources is growing.  Shutter-down strikes in Gwadar andthroughout the Makran area are now common.  Baluch nationalist parties are in the process of forging abroad new alliance to press for their demands.   During a well-attended meeting in Khuzdar in late May,their leaders lambasted Islamabad for denying the people of Baluchistan their due rights.  They had avalid point to make. If the people of Makran do not demand their rights now, who will pay heed to theirprotests once the Gwadar port has been completed?

"Repeated bunglings of fragile inter-ethnic relations have only further exacerbated provincial fearsof majoritarian rule. Gross neglect of their development needs, denial of provincial autonomy and the lack ofparticipatory institutions have encouraged resort to extreme means.  Lest we forget, the last timeregional demands for economic and political rights were ignored in East Pakistan, it culminated in a bloodycivil war and the dismemberment of the country.

"The people of Baluchistan and their elected leaders must be taken into confidence on all issues thatconcern them.  The Centre must treat them with the respect all citizens of the Federation deserve, not asa second rate minority.  The decision to use their resources as Baluchs see fit is simply not Islamabad'sto make. The sooner it sheds its colonial hangover, the better." (End of citation from the article).

These complaints have led to a demand by the Baluch nationalist elements  for the stoppage of theconstruction of the port.  Addressing a press conference at his native village of Dera Bugti on August10, 2003,  Nawab Muhammad Akbar Khan Bugti, chief of the Bugti tribe, described the Gwadar port projectas a plan to divide Baluchistan and bring destruction, instability and poverty to the Baluch people.  Hesaid that  in his view the plans to build the Gwadar port with Chinese assistance and a big air base at  Pasni with  financial assistance from  the US  Central Command, the allotment of landto army soldiers and civil bureaucrats in Gwadar and the declaration of  Gwadar as a sensitive defence zone were directed against the Baluchs.

He demanded the formation of an authority by the National Assembly, with 60 per cent of the posts in theauthority held by the Baluchs, for supervising the development and construction of the projects in Gwadar,Pasni and other areas of Baluchistan.  He added: "We welcome foreign investors, traders,industrialists, oil and gas explorers and mining companies in Baluchistan, but demand 51 per cent share oflocals in the profit made by the foreigners. " .

He  stressed the need for proper legislation to regulate investors and  to protect the rights andinterests of the local people and  said  that his tribe would support the residents of Gwadar ifthey began a campaign to achieve their rights.  His attitude has subsequently further hardened and he hasstarted opposing the Gwadar project in toto as anti-Baluch.

Meeting at Dera Bugti on September 14, 2003, the representatives of three Baluch nationalist parties formeda new alliance called the  Baluch Ittehad, under the chairmanship of Nawab Akbar Bugti, to resist"anti-Baluchistan projects". The meeting was attended by Akbar Khan Bugti of the  JamhooriWattan Party (JWP), Sardar Akhtar Jan Mangal of the  Baluchistan National Party (BNP) and Dr. Abdul HayeeBaluch  of the Baluchistan National Movement (BNM).

Later, the formation of the new alliance was announced at  a big public meeting in Sui. Addressing the meeting, Bugti said that under the banner of the new alliance, a meaningful struggle would belaunched to secure the rights of the people of Baluchistan. He described  the Gwadar port project as not"in the interests of Baluchistan" and added that   it would not be allowed to be completedat any cost.

He warned  that the Government would face a tough resistance if it tried to establish cantonments atKohlu, Gwadar and Dera Bugti and  that the Government would not be able to implement any project atgunpoint and it would meet a tit-for-tat response.  He pointed out that all contracts for the explorationof natural gas had been disregarded, though the Sui area met 70 per cent of the natural gas demands of thecountry. "We are not being given royalty, nor employment to the area peoples," he said.

Bugti alleged that the Musharraf government was busy coaxing only  one province (Punjab).  Hesaid  that the three other  provinces had rejected the Kalabagh Dam and the Sindh Assembly had alsopassed a resolution against the Thal Canal, but the Government still insisted on going ahead with thesecontroversial projects.  He promised  that the Baluch nationalist leaders would extend  all-outsupport to the Sindhis against the Thal Canal.

Other Baluch nationalist leaders alleged that since the creation of Pakistan, the precious naturalresources of Baluchistan were being looted.